Getting footing on Rocky drug laws

Last week, Gov. David Paterson signed the most important reforms of the oppressive Rockefeller drug laws since they took effect more than 35 years ago.

The changes will finally reflect some of the changes advocates have fought for for more than a decade: not reflexively sending non-violent drug offenders to prison, with some getting the same sentences as murderers; giving judges discretion in sentencing; sending some offenders into treatment or other alternative programs.

Paterson, who was arrested during a Rockefeller drug law protest when he was a state senator, and his Democratic leadership colleagues, Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, deserve credit for putting the reforms on the legislative agenda. In the past, they were blocked by the Senate until an agreement was made in 2004 that made modest changes in the statutes.

But the real credit goes to groups like the Drug Policy Alliance -- which began fighting for reforms a decade ago -- and Real Reform New York, a coalition of advocates. They exposed the laws as oppressive and racially biased, pointing out that 90 percent of offenders sentenced under them were African American or Hispanic.

Subsequent campaigns such as "Drop the Rock," that included celebrities such as hip hop mogul Russell Simmons, and the election of Albany County District Attorney David Soares, who publicly supported drug law reform when he ran for office, helped keep the issue before the public.